Knitting machine



Sept. 13, 1955 Q wlLKlE 2,717,510

KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. I.

INVENTOR.

FIG. 3. LEO O. WILKIE ATTORNEYS Sept. 13, 1955 L. o. WlLKlE 2,717,510

KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 28, 1955 2 Sheets Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

INVENTOR. LEO 0. WI LKIE ATTORNEYS United States Patent KNITTING MACHINE Leo 0. Wilkie, Lakeport, N. 11., assignor to Scott '& Williams, Incorporated, Laconia, 'N. H., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July-28, 1953, Serial N0.--370,684

6 'Claims. (Cl."-6'6 28) This invention relates to knitting machines and has particular reference to a self-aligning dog arrangement for maintaining against relative rotation'the cylinder and'dial of a ribber.

In ribbers of the type employing circularstationary needle beds, elaborate mechanisms have been designed to prevent relative rotation between the cylinder and dial, one of which is disclosed in R. H. Lawson Patent 2,428,230, while in the-case of machines having rotating needle beds, systems of gearing have been used for the purpose, but due to the simplicity, as 'well as for the operating accuracy, of properly designed dogs, the latter are often desirable over the so-called-dogless devices.

In the patent to Harry Swinglehurst, No. 1,056,133, dated March 18, 1913, there are discussed the problems arising in ribbers in the matter of preventing relative rotation between a cylinder and dial. As thereinpointed out, in either a rotating or stationary cylinder ribber it is necessary to provide intermeshing devices between the cylinder and dial to prevent their relative rotation, and between these devices the fabric passes as it is withdrawn by the takeup mechanism beneath the machine. A considerable force is necessarily transmitted through the fabric between the cooperating dog members and to prevent marking of the fabric by reason of the friction which is created, the dog members have been provided as indicated in said patent by a polished lug on one ofthe elements, for example, the cylinder, and a roller, generally -of ball bearing type, carried by the other element, for example, thedial. While the lug may have a polished flat'or 'slightly rounded surface and the roller is also externally very smooth and rounded at its edges, the force which exists due to the reaction of the needles on the dial cams willsproduce walewise lines in the fabric due particularly to-the fact that the forces which are involved are localized in the-fabric due to the impossibility of maintaining parallelisinof-the axis of the roller with the surface of the lug. If such-parallelism could be maintained, the stress on the fabric would be distributed preventing very large stresses from occurring at relatively smaller areas of the fabric. Self-aligning ball bearings have been tried but without marked success since the degree of misalignment which they permit is somewhat limited and ball bearings of this t-y'pe'cannot be completely shielded and, consequently, lint so'on collects around the balls and either prevents their free turning or locks them completely.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide a dog arrangement in which there is provided proper action despite considerable misalignment of the dial dog relative to the cylinder dog during operation and in which the ball bearing on which the roller revolves is effectively sealed against accumulation of lint. In accordance with the invention, a sealed or shielded ball bearing is mounted upon the external element of a ball and socket joint, the ball being mounted on one of the machine elements, either the dial or the cylinder, while the other carries a lug having a polished surface and formed for flatwise contact with the cylindrical surface of the roller. By

the use -of-this arrangement variations in the fabric or variations in the relationship-between the dial and cylin- 'der during operation do not disturb the essential relationare distributed'o'ver aportion of the fabric corresponding in width to the'width of'the roller. The reduction of stress per unitarea ofthe fabric results in avoidance of streaks or lines which have heretofore been produced.

The foregoing object of the invention and other objects particularly relating to details of construction-andoperation will become apparent from the following description, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through a ribber and showing, in-particular, the dog construction, the ribber illustrated being of the stationary cylinder type usedfor knitting tubular fabric;

Figure 2 is an inverted plan view showing, in particular, the dog arrangement as viewed from the bottom of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken through the axis of the roller;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing an alternative embodiment -of the invention; and

Figure 5 is asectional view on the plane indicated at 55 in Figure 4.

The needle cylinder of'the machine is illustrated 'at 2 and the cooperating dial at 4. In the stationary cylinder type of machine illustrated, the needle operating cams-are mounted in and rotate with the cam cylinder 6 driven through gearing including'the bevel gear 8. The cams for operating the "needles in the dial are carried by the cap 12 which is rotated'through one or more connections from bevel gear 8. As will be evident, the shaft and the rotating parts which it carries must rotate within the dial 4 which is held in vertical :position by the shaft assembly. However, the arrangement precludes holding the dial stationary by a central device (though this might be donewith additional complexity of the machine) and from the practical standpoint, therefore, the dial 4 must beheld against rotation'by the cylinder 2. The knitted fabric, however, must pass between the cylinder and dial, and, consequently, there is used-a dog arrangement of the type previously indicated and discussed in said Swinglehurst patent.

The dog arrangement disclosed herein resembles to a considerable extent that in the Swinglehurst patent, and comprises the fixed-lug 14 secured to the needle cylinder 2 and provided with a .polishedplane surface 15. Mounted on a stud 16 secured to the dial is a lever 13 which is held in adjusted position by a-screw 22 passing through a slot in the arm 20 of the lever and threaded into a post 24 carried by the dial, the screw 22 being locked in its adjusted position by a screw 26 threaded into the end of post 24. A spring 28 serves to facilitate adjustment by holding the lever in position to be arrested by the head of screw 22, but in operation this spring is inactive, the reaction force of the needles on the dial cams serving to maintain the lever 18 in the position determined by the screw head. Washers 30 and 32 may be interposed be tween the lever arm 20 and the head of the screw 22 and the spring 28, respectively. The arrangement so far described is identical With that illustrated in said Swinglehurst patent.

In accordance with the present invention, a screw stud 34 mounted in the lever 18 carries a ball element 36 of a universal joint, there being mounted on the ball 36 a ring 38 with interposed bronze bushings 4t) and 42. Such ball joint assemblies are available on the market and provide free universal movement between the elements thereof. Having a press fit on the ring 38 is the inner race 44 flatwise engagement, with interposition of the fabric, with the surface 15 of the lug 14. While the ball bearing is not of self-aligning type, the ball and socket joint in its interior and mounting it on the lever 18, provides for universal angular adjustment, and the result is that during 7 operation of the machine the outer race 48 continuously" conforms itself to the lug 14 so that the axis of this race is continuously parallel to the plane surface 15 of the lug or, alternatively, if the portion of the fabric passing between the roller and lug is not uniform, there automatically occurs such relative positions between the roller and lug as will distribute the forces transmitted through the fabric to the end of minimizing localization of such forces along any narrow line or area of the fabric. The result is avoidance of streaking of the fabric despite the transmission of large forces between the dog elements It may be noted that complete universality of angular movement of the ball bearing is not required and satisfactory results may be secured if the mounting is such that the ball bearing is merely free to pivot about a vertical axis. In other words, the inner race 44 may be mounted"-- to pivot on a vertical hinge carried by a member such as 18 With the axis of the hinge substantially vertical.

The lug 14 may be replaced by a roller arrangement as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. In this case a bracket 54 mounts on studs a pair of ball-bearing rollers 56 which should have the sealed ball race construction referred to but need not be of self-aligning type. The bracket 54 is held to the cylinder by screws passing through slotted holes 58 in the bracket to provide vertical adjustment so that the dial roller 48 may operate approximately midway of the cylinder rollers. The operation is similar to that of the first described modification, the cylindrical surface of the roller 48 being substantially tangent to the cylindrical surfaces of rollers 56, allowing for the fabric thickness.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knitting machine having a cylinder and dial, cooperating dog elements carried by said cylinder and dial respectively, one of said elements presenting a smooth surface and the other of said elements comprising a roller having a substantially cylindrical surface and mounting means for said roller supporting it for universal angular tilting of the roller axis so that said surfaces may assume a substantially tangential relationship with fabric being knitted passing therebetween, said roller being provided by the outer race of a ball bearing, and said mounting means including a spherical ball member, and a socket member mounted on said ball member, the socket member supporting the inner race of the ball bearing.

2. In a knitting machine having a cylinder and dial,

cooperating dog elements carried by said cylinder and dial respectively, one of said elements presenting a smooth surface and the other of said elements comprising a roller having a substantially cylindrical surface and mounting means for said roller supporting it for universal angular tilting of the roller axis so-that said surfaces may assume a substantially tangential relationship with fabric being knitted passing therebetween, said roller being provided by the outer race of a ball bearing having a sealed race, and said mounting means including a spherical ball memher, and a socket member mounted on said ball member, the socket member supporting the inner race of the ball bearing.

3. In a knitting machine having a cylinder and dial, cooperating dog elements carried by said cylinder and dial respectively, one of said elements comprising a pair of rollers presenting smooth substantially cylindrical surfaces and the other of said elements comprising a roller having a substantially cylindrical surface and mounting means for the last mentioned roller supporting it for angular tilting of its axis so that the surface of the last mentioned roller may assume a substantially tangential relationship with the surface of each roller of said pair with fabric being knitted passing therebetween.

4. In a knitting machine having a cylinder and dial, cooperating dog elements carried by said cylinder and dial respectively, one of said elements comprising a pair of rollers presenting smooth substantially cylindrical surfaces and the other of said elements comprising a roller having a substantially cylindrical surface and mounting means for the last mentioned roller supporting it for universal angular tilting of its axis so that the surface of the last mentioned roller may assume a substantially tangential relationship with the surface of each roller of said pair with fabric being knitted passing therebetween.

5. In a knitting machine having a cylinder and dial, cooperating dog elements carried by said cylinder and dial respectively, one of said elements comprising a pair of rollers presenting smooth substantially cylindrical surfaces and adjustable mounting means for said rollers and the other of said elements comprising a roller having a substantially cylindrical surface and mounting means for the last mentioned roller supporting it for angular tilting of its axis so that the surface of the last mentioned roller may assume a substantially tangential relationship with the surface of each roller of said pair with fabric being knitted passing therebetween.

6. In a knitting machine having a cylinder and dial, cooperating dog elements carried by said cylinder and dial respectively, one of said elements comprising a pair of rollers presenting smooth substantially cylindrical surfaces and adjustable mounting means for said rollers and the other of said elements comprising a roller having a substantially cylindrical surface and mounting means for the last mentioned roller supporting it for universal angular tilting of its axis so that the surface of the last mentioned roller may assume a substantially tangential relationship with the surface of each roller of said pair with fabric being knitted passing therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,056,133 Swinglehurst Mar. 18, 1913 1,166,290 Wildman Dec. 28, 1915 1,571,855 MacNamee Feb. 2, 1926 

